This is my brewing set up, well my summer time set up anyway. As a Father's Day present to myself I brewed a batch of the first all grain recipe I created on my own. I named it Witch Hunt Rye IPA. A hoppy rye brew. Since I have only been brewing for about 2 years this is only the third time I have made this. It is however the first time I have made a 10 gallon batch of it. My target OG was 1.067. I hit 1.062. I really need a measuring stick or install a sight glass to my keggle. I eyeballed what I thought was boiling down to 10 gallons it ended up to be about 12 gallons. I bet I would have hit my target OG if I had boiled a bit longer. Fermentation started right off that night though. Father's day morning I went to the basement and one bung had blown across the basement and the other was bubbling through the airlock. After a bit of clean up I replaced the airlocks with blow off hoses which are thumping away as I type this.
My last brew day I was impatient with the the sparge and in turn had a wicked low OG, way off target. I was going for a light session pale ale as it was so it worked out. This time I stuck with my guns and maintained the slow sparge.
The chickens that you see to the background, on the left, enjoyed the smell of the brewing. The strutted around the mash tun most of the day. I split the spent grains with them and the compost (which they get into anyway).
Next will be a transfer to secondary fermentation, maybe a bit of dry hopping as well.
My goal is to brew 10 gallons a month, I may need more carboys for that!
